1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, a control method thereof, and a program.
2. Description of the Related Art
A function can be added to a printer driver installed in a host computer by additionally installing a function expansion module to the printer driver.
An example of the additional function is a copy-forgery-inhibited pattern function (e.g., refer to Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-197297). A copy-forgery-inhibited pattern image in an original document (i.e., a printed output from a printer) simply looks like a pattern or a background image to a viewer. However, when the original document is copied, a predetermined text or image becomes visualized. The copy-forgery-inhibited pattern thus prevents use of copy products.
Colors in the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern image and the text that becomes visualized when the original document is copied can be freely set in such a copy-forgery-inhibited pattern function added to the printer driver. Further, output date and time and information unique to a printing apparatus can also be set in the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern image.
However, according to conventional techniques, if the output date and time and the information unique to a printing apparatus cannot be acquired, there is no information to be embedded in the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern image. A copy-forgery-inhibited pattern image that has no embedded information thus becomes generated.
Such an issue is not limited to the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern image, and a similar issue occurs in a bar code, a two-dimensional code, and digital watermark.